The 2004 Budget introduced a disclosure regime to target tax avoidance schemes in a number of specific areas of the tax system. Measures are currently before Parliament in the National Insurance Contributions Bill, to extend the disclosure rules to NICs avoidance arrangements. The Government has now announced that the rules will also be extended to all of income tax, corporation tax and capital gains tax. The existing disclosure rules will be amended so that the time limit for disclosing in-house schemes and arrangements will be reduced to 30 days from implementation, to bring it more into line with the rules for promoters of avoidance schemes. The changes will be effective from April 2006.

A number of measures to block more recent avoidance schemes are being introduced with immediate effect. Employers who continue to use schemes to avoid tax and NICs on high-value bonuses are also warned that the government will continue to monitor their remuneration arrangements and will legislate further to close down such schemes, if necessary backdating their implementation to 2 December 2004.

...back to 8 December 2005


Sources:
Pre-Budget Report Chapter 5: Building a fairer society

The UK Payroll News is sponsored by HRD & Payroll Solutions

Discuss this news item in the PayPerShop Forum

The National Insurance Contributions Bill, currently before the House of Commons, contains powers to

• make anti-avoidance NICs regulations effective from the same date as the anti-avoidance tax measures to ensure that employers and employees using contrived schemes cannot avoid paying their correct NICs liability, and
  
  
• extend the tax avoidance disclosure rules to NICs avoidance arrangements, and ensure that employers cannot pass on their NICs liability on past payments of share-based earnings to their employees.

The first three sets of Regulations that will implement these anti-avoidance measures have been published in draft.

...back to 24 November 2005


Sources:
National Insurance Contributions Bill 2005 Draft Regulations

The UK Payroll News is sponsored by HRD & Payroll Solutions

Discuss this news item in the PayPerShop Forum